A/NL This was requested by a Guest Reviewer to the Main IDBH Fic after Chapter 191 for Chapter 192. Normally I hadn't in the past received too many requests and therefore weren't seeking them out as often. But this one, this one where Nanako's in Heaven after her death, and sees her Mother and Charles's Mother, I knew I HAD to write it.

The problem though was because Chapter 192 is very dark in the wake of her death it wouldn't have been the good kind of mood whiplash, and putting it in Chapter 193 felt like it would wouldn't have worked as well as a standalone. So I made it into a Vignette that I could post at the same time as 193, the Chapter where she was revived.

However, now that I think about it, maybe I should take requests. What Vignettes (That are T-Rated) would you readers like to see? Please send me a PM if you have one in mind.

But regardless of that, hope you enjoy this. I sure enjoyed writing it.

Thanks to DualSelf for the assistance.

"Heaven Can Wait"
Nanako/Chisato/Elizabeth Yamata
December 4, 2011

Nanako was walking. She was confused, but she wasn't scared. She had felt the warmth around her and the sunlight and knew she was walking toward something. She just didn't know what or where… Or even why…

She remembered her Big Bros trying not to cry in the hospital and then a lot of pain and then she called out to Dad and then she closed her eyes…and then when she opened them, she was on a pathway.

She wasn't wearing her hospital gown either. Rather she was wearing her summer dress but she was barefoot. Somehow she knew that she would not stub her toe or get a thorn or any of that. So she kept walking.

But she wondered. Was she…dead?

Was this…Heaven?

Nanako looked around and was a little surprised that it didn't like it did when Big Bros and their friends had rescued her. Instead, it looked…

Like Inaba…

Teacher had said that Heaven was like a castle with vines and moss. But then Big Bro Charles had said that Heaven was a place full of clouds and pearly gates and St. Peter acting as bouncer… She didn't understand that last part and the way Dad lectured Charles and the way Big Bro said 'gatekeeper' as a correction afterward sounded like Charles wasn't supposed to have said what he said.

Nanako noticed that there were ghostly images around her. They seemed to be of other people…but they couldn't see her and she couldn't clearly see them… She wondered why that was.

As Nanako walked closer towards the light, she could hear voices.

"I'm just saying… Heaven should have better coffee…" A voice said.

Nanako stopped short. That was Lizbeth's voice!

And then the next voice heard really stunned Nanako.

"You're just missing Ryo's coffee…"

MOM?! It was her Mom?! Her Mom was here?!

…

This must be Heaven…

"Mommy!" Nanako said and started running closer to the light.

When the light cleared she was in the Junes Food Court and saw at a table…

Lizbeth in a Summer Dress with her hair down and also…

It was Mom… Dojima Chisato… She was wearing her dress and sweater. Both adults were barefoot as well.

"I'll have you know, Chisato. That his coffee got quite good towards my passing."

"He was already there as far as my palette was concerned. He…" And then Chisato looked and saw Nanako.

Nanako had tears falling down her cheeks and said in a quiet voice, "mommy…?"

And Chisato had tears in her eyes when she saw Nanako and nodded.

And then Nanako ran over to Chisato and hugged her. Tears flowing down from both Dojimas.

Elizabeth watched with tears of her own falling from her eyes. Normally she would have made some sort of mock wounded remark that she wasn't getting any attention. But this was an important reunion for the two of them, so she kept her tongue.

Though she missed her Shinobu very much.

"Mommy…why did you leave me and Dad… Why didn't you come home?"

"I wanted to so much, my little Angel. But my injuries were stronger than my love for you and your father and my will to live…" Chisato said. "But…why are you here? It's not your time yet…"

"I think Chisato…that she was the next victim…" Elizabeth said sadly.

Chisato looked horrified. "No… Not my baby… You had your whole life ahead of you…"

"I'm sorry…" Nanako said quietly.

"It's not your fault, Nanako-chan… I think that your illness was stronger than your love for your Dad and your Big Bros and your will to live," Elizabeth said.

Then Nanako hugged Elizabeth. "Why did you leave too?"

"I was too bloody smart for my own good… I trusted my killer… So I'm sorry…"

"But you knew she was coming here. That's why we're out here, isn't it…?" Chisato said accusingly. Elizabeth looked away.

"I'm sorry… I had told you of her illness…but even though it was likely…" Elizabeth said.

"Likely…" Chisato said. "Likely that she would pass away and come here, you mean?"

Nanako was standing at the side of the table. "Are you two fighting?"

Both adults looked worried at her.

"This is Heaven… There's no fighting in Heaven…" Nanako said in a sullen voice.

And then both Elizabeth and Chisato laughed.

"Well…as long as you're here, why don't you pull up a chair, Nanako-chan?" Elizabeth said.

Nanako got in a chair that was between the two women, though Elizabeth noticed with amusement that she was angled closer to Chisato rather than Elizabeth.

"Mommy… Are you mad that I'm in Heaven?"

"I'm just mad at Lizbeth for not telling me…but I can't blame her… She thought I wouldn't want to see you…"

"Why not…?" Nanako said, tears forming in her eyes. "Don't you love me? Don't you miss me?"

"Ohh…Silly Goose… I love you and I miss you more than you can possibly imagine… but if I saw you being told ahead of time… I would have been more upset."

Nanako sniffled and nodded. "All right… "

She and the two adults started talking for a while about various things. Elizabeth discussed the time where Nanako picked flowers for Ryotaro…unfortunately those were flowers that Elizabeth were growing, but she couldn't get mad at Nanako. Chisato told Nanako about how she and Ryotaro met… though she kept out details of how he was a motorcycle-riding hellraiser. The stuff that she could mentioned sounded awesome enough.

But then Chisato told Nanako about the day she was born. "You were a baby that took a while to be born…but once you were… You were the quietest baby once you stopped crying. You looked at the world with such bright eyes… Eyes like mine…"

"Was Daddy happy?"

"He had hoped for a boy, but once he saw you… Any discussions about how he was going to raise you if you had been a boy left his memory…he loved you as a girl and then acted like he always wanted it that way."

"Actually he confided in me that he wanted a girl…but he had to keep up the appearance of wanting a boy just so HIS dad would get off his…" Then realizing Heaven didn't allow certain words, she said, "case…"

"Mommy…what happened with the hit-and-run…?" Nanako asked.

Chisato looked at Elizabeth and Elizabeth nodded and mouthed, "She knows…not all the details…"

"Well…I was walking in the rain to pick you up from the Preschool. It was a dark and terrible storm, though there was no lightning, just a hard rain. Then as I was walking… I saw headlights and then heard the scuffing of tires… And then I felt the impact. Then I heard the car pull back and drive off quietly. I called your name and your father's name and then everything went black and when I woke up, I knew was in Heaven."

Nanako felt something on her left foot. She looked down and noticed it was a paw.

"Sukauto?!" she said.

"Meow!" Sukauto said. "Meow!"

Nanako picked up Sukauto gently and then as she held her started to cry. "I'm sorry, Suka-chan! I'm sorry…"

"What's wrong?!" Elizabeth said.

"I think Nanako feels bad for what happened to Sukauto on Earth." Chisato gave a strong, loving, comforting squeeze to her daughter's shoulder. "Nanako… It wasn't your fault. Sukauto took an interest in the vines and ate pieces of them. You did nothing wrong."

"But I gave her the tomatoes…" Nanako said.

Sukauto mewed and then rubbed her head against Nanako's ear, purring.

"I think she's forgiven you, Lass…" Elizabeth said.

Sukauto purred some more and then leapt out of Nanako's arms and started lounging and bathing herself on the table.

"Lizbeth? Why did you give up Big Bro Charles?"

Elizabeth looked at Nanako and said after a sigh of sadness, "I didn't want to. But you see, I had made a rather…large mistake in Med School. I met Charles's biological father and we hit it off and then we had our honeymoon before we were even engaged…"

"You mean like Big Bro Charles and Big Sis Yukiko?" Nanako asked.

"Yes… unfortunately… But unlike your Big Bro and Big Sis, I wasn't careful to make sure I wouldn't have a baby… and so I was pregnant with Your Big Bro. But the problem was… I didn't have money then. I only had a partial scholarship to Med School and I had a lot of bills that were manageable with just me…but me and a baby…? If I had kept your Big Bro, we would have been on the streets of London. Starving. Cold. My little Shinobu…Charles that is… deserved a better future than that…"

"Why couldn't your brother help?"

Elizabeth was sadder. "I promised myself that only your Big Bro would be told by me and now that I'm gone… I can't ever… Suffice it to say, Nanako-chan… My half-sister is James and William's mother. We got into an argument and Matthew's wife hated me for it on a matter of principle and took Ophelia's side. So Matthew was limited in what help he could give… He regrets it, I'm sure…"

"Why would Big Bro Charles's aunt hate him?! He did nothing wrong!" Nanako said.

Chisato decided to field this question as a way for repaying Elizabeth earlier as she didn't seem to have the best answer now. "Nanako…Remember what Daddy told you after the one time we did fight in front of you and we felt bad…"

Nanako nodded. "'Sometimes adults act like little kids.'" And then it dawned on Nanako. "oh…"

Elizabeth chuckled. "See…that's why it was difficult…"

"But even little kids have to grow up!" Nanako said.

"Which is what you're still going to do…" A new voice said.

Nanako turned and saw a tall lady with blonde hair and golden eyes look at her. She was dressed in blue and had a large blue book.

"Are you an Angel?" Nanako asked.

The woman smiled. "No, I'm a friend of your Big Bros… My name is Margaret."

"You know my Big Bros? From where?"

"Around Inaba…"

"Wait…were you the Fortune Teller Lady?" Nanako asked. "You sound familiar…"

Margaret blushed and said, "Yes, I was… And I shouldn't have said what your Big Bros and James were… I got in trouble with my Master for that."

"Oh… Sorry…" Nanako said.

"It wasn't your fault…" Then Nanako saw Margaret turn to her Mom and Lizbeth and said, "She had a purpose for being here… But things will soon pass…"

"A purpose?" Chisato said.

"Yes… I'm sorry… but Her Big Bros had a shared Trial to go through. A test."

"Oh… I see… Another one of those…"

"And a major one…" Margaret said.

"I can't say I appreciate that…" Chisato said. "But it was nice seeing you again, Nanako-chan…"

"I have to go?" Nanako said. Then she teared up and ran to her mother. "I don't want to go!" she said, gripping Chisato tightly in the hug.

Chisato was in tears herself and even Elizabeth was silently crying. "I know you don't and I don't want you to, either…but I can't be selfish. You have to be a brave girl and go back with Margaret to be with your Big Bros and your Dad…because they love you and they need you…"

Nanako looked at her mother… Then she looked at Lizbeth. Then she looked at Sukauto, who was still bathing, but then stopped and looked at Nanako.

"All right…" Nanako said.

"You're a good child… You'd make your Dad and I know you make your Mum proud."

"Mommy… Were you mad at Dad for dating Lizbeth?"

"Extremely…" Chisato deadpanned. Then she and Lizbeth laughed. "No… I wanted him to move on too… I'm just sorry Elizabeth had to join me."

"I'm sorry, too… And I miss you every day…" Chisato pointedly cleared her throat. "Almost as much as your Mum…" Then everyone but Sukauto laughed.

"Come on, Nanako-chan… we must go… Time passes quicker on Earth than up here…" Margaret said. Then she held out her hand to lead Nanako back to Earth.

"Bye-bye…" Nanako said and waved goodbye to the women and Sukauto. The humans waved back. Sukauto meowed her goodbye.

After Nanako left the two women cried for several minutes.

"Will she remember anything?" Chisato said. "About being here?"

"Margaret will make sure she saw us…but not remember anything she talked about… and only as a happy dream."

"That's good… I suppose…" Chisato said. "Still…why did I have to…"

"Her Birthday wish… She wished to see you one last time. Since it was looking more likely she was coming here… I'm sorry, Chisato…"

Chisato had tears run down her face…but this time she smiled. "She misses me so much… You wanted to make her wish come true… And you knew I missed her too… Thank you… You were a worthy successor to me…"

"Too bad I ended up here… with this bad coffee…"

"Actually I heard tell Charles made worse for a while."

"That's because I let a woman who is a fine woman otherwise but had a daft sense of how to make coffee adopt him."

Both women laughed.

"You turned out a fine son…" Chisato said.

"And you produced the most wonderful daughter…" Elizabeth replied. "But Heaven can wait…"

"Yes… for both of them…" Chisato agreed.

The women resumed their talking with Sukauto occasionally rubbing up against them…

All were happy that Nanako had been there, though.

…

But Heaven could wait.